Free help is available from public and private sources to help small business start-ups or expansions. Most of this aid involves educating and training business owners on how to run a business more effectively with tips on organization, budgeting, marketing, and growth planning. Assistance is offered online, over the telephone, or face-to-face.

Government Help

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the U.S. government’s primary source of information for small business. Offering a series of business assistance programs directly or in partnership with other public and private programs, the SBA presents online help on how to write a business plan, budgeting tips, and start-up cost estimation guides. Explanations of the various business structures a company could choose, from sole proprietorships and partnerships to Limited Liability Companies, S Corporations and C Corporations, is also available. In addition, the SBA backs low-interest loans and venture capital to qualified small businesses .

Help Close to Home

Located throughout the U.S. are SBA Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) that administer one-stop assistance to small business owners, whether it be a start-up company or an established business. The SBDC is funded by the SBA, individual states, the private sector, and educational institutions to provide free or low cost information, counseling, training, and technical assistance. SBDCs are located in each state , the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories., with many states having several regional locations.

SCORE

SCORE is a free and confidential counseling service for entrepreneurs, offering online and in-person services at 364 offices across the country. Formerly known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, SCORE is a nonprofit association that draws its12,400 volunteer counselors from working, as well as retired, business owners and executives. It serves as a resource partner with the SBA to individually mentor business owners and also offers seminars and online workshops.

Low Interest Loans, Technology Grants

Business start-ups are always looking for federal grants, often in vain. While the SBA backs low-interest loans, it does not award grants directly to businesses. Grants may be available from the federal government, but most of those grants are for specialized areas of interest, such as research into new energy, green technology, and advanced science, primarily through the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The online clearing house for all federal grants is hosted at Grants.gov.

Private Help

The Internet offers numerous sites with advice to owners of small businesses with varying results. BusinessOwnersIdeaCafe.com is a free site that offers advice on start-ups and small business issues. This site occasionally offers information on funding sources, and periodically offers its own grants to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur.com is another free site that offers a number of articles and blogs aimed a starting a business, marketing, online businesses and more.

About the Author

Tom Chmielewski is a longtime journalist with experience in newspapers, magazines, books, e-books and the Internet. With his company TEC Publishing, he has published magazines and an award-winning multimedia e-book, "Celebration at the Sarayi." Chmielewski's design skills include expertise in Adobe Creative Suite's InDesign and Photoshop. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Western Michigan University.